The Cross Store
by angelbaby7sat
Summary: Who are you?... This is not a matter of who I am, but who you are willing to be. Please read and Review! Oneshot! No Flames Written by angelbaby7sat and Maisjetadoresiriusnoir my cousin.


**A/N: Not completely original. I heard this at Sunday school, used creative license and help from my co-writer Maisjetadoresiriusnoir to fix some things. **

**We loved this story so much we wanted to share it with the rest of you. So we hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. Thanks and God bless you!**

**The Cross Store**

A young man was sitting at his kitchen table while looking through one out of several photo albums he owned. After a few minutes of flipping through old family pictures he came across a picture of his ex-wife and their three little boys.

Amanda…

She had walked out on him three long years ago. She couldn't handle staying with him because when his mother and father were killed he turned to drugs and alcohol.

He had heard from a "friend" of his that drugs helped the pain…made it all go away. Amanda was always there for him…but she never made the pain go away. Not like the drugs did. She tried and tried to stop him from continuing to use drugs. Amanda knew that drugs wouldn't help, that they would only make things worse.

A few months after their separation Amanda and their three boys got in a terrible car accident. The children all died instantly and after reaching the hospital Amanda only lasted for three hours. The hospital tried to call his house to tell him but that night he was at a bar and was too drunk to even pay attention to the news report on their accident. He didn't find out until the next day and after losing not only his parents but also the love of his life and their three children he fell even deeper into the hole he was already in.

He turned to even worse drugs, more alcohol, and just about lost his little job at a small and privately owned computer company.

After losing just about everything in his life all he could do was sit at home and watch the pile of bills and notices on his kitchen table grow and grow.

This of course is what prompted him to pull out those old photo albums. Her beautiful eyes stared back at him and for a moment he felt like the man he used to be so long ago.

A spur of the moment decision caused him to slide the photo from out of it's plastic covering and walk quickly to his car. He didn't really know where he was going but before he knew it the road in front of him unfolded and he found himself in the parking lot of the cemetery.

Her cemetery.

Slowly he got out of his car and made his way to her grave. A cold and tall stone stood over a patch of dead and dry grass. A tear began o form in the corner of his eye and he began to wonder.

_Why did I not listen to her?_

He was convinced that if he had listened to her she would not be dead or even he would have been with her during her final moment.

The man began to cry and in a moment of desperation looked towards the heavens and cried out in prayer.

"Lord! Help me!"

After a moment of uneasy silence the man stood up, nearly broken. There was nobody up there. There was no God after all. Who was he to fool himself for thinking that maybe everything would be fixed for him. He really was all alone now.

Broken and empty the man walked hunched back to his car.

"Kevin?" The man looked around, scared and almost annoyed.

"Who's there? What do you want?"

"Hello Kevin" A tall and not to extraordinary man walked from behind a car in the parking lot.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"This is not a matter of who I am, but who you are willing to be."

"Stop messing with me! I have it hard enough. I don't need some egotistical sap to try and fix my life."

"I have no intentions of fixing anything for you. That is for you and only you to do. I cannot change you."

"Sure as hell you can't." Kevin opened this car and sat down.

"Kevin, I wish you no harm. I am trying to help you realize that there is more to life. All you have to do is listen and open your eyes."

Kevin slowly got out of his car and looked at the man. He wasn't very tall, about average. And he was average in looks and shape.

Average brown hair, brown eyes, just average.

"Who are you?"

"You know me. I have been here all along and I have come to you."

"_Jesus?"_

"Follow me." He said and began walking towards the bust road. Kevin locked his car and slowly followed him.

"Where are you taking me?" But Jesus just waved his hand for Kevin to follow. They walked for nearly fifteen minutes until they came upon a small and dirty little building. Nothing extraordinary…just average.

Kevin wearily followed the man in front of him through the front door and into what looked like a store that was filled floor to ceiling, wall to wall with crosses. The crosses ranged from all sizes, gigantic to tiny.

"What are these for?"

"Each of these crosses represents a person's personal grief or problem. The bigger the cross the bigger the problem." Jesus said.

_I probably have one of those huge ones. _Kevin thought with a frown.

"So what am I doing here?" Kevin asked.

"I want you to pick out whatever cross you think will suit you and you can trade problems with that person." But little did Kevin know, Jesus knew which cross Kevin was going to pick out.

Kevin started to walk around and look at every cross in the room until he got to a very tiny and beat up cross in the corner.

"I want that one." Kevin said while pointing to the tiny cross just sitting there on the shelf.

"Are you sure?" Jesus asked, "Because that is the cross you came in here with."

Kevin just stood there looking at Jesus with confusion. Kevin turned back to the cross and picked it up, staring at it. He turned to look back at Jesus but he was gone.

Kevin set down the cross and turned to leave the store, many thoughts running through his mind. When he opened the door he found himself back next to his Amanda's grave. That night he sat with her and told her everything, all of his fears and dreams, and all of the things he never told her before she left.

He drove himself home and before he went to bed he went to the bathroom and gave himself a long hard look. After losing about three inches of hair and a few weeks worth of stubble set his alarm clock to seven A.M.

The next morning Kevin woke up to the sound of Luck be a Lady by Frank Sinatra and smiled. With a skip in his step he made his way through the house and cleaned for the first time in months. He threw away all of his alcohol and all of the more unforgivable substances with little regret and practically flew to work.

One step in the door and Kevin nearly dropped his keys. Everyone in the small building was staring at him, some with looks of surprise and most with looks of mixed relief and happiness. He looked around with a look of mild surprise on his own and noticed that there was a new woman.

She was beautiful and there was just _something_ about her. All day he caught her looking at him and vice versa over their desks. After the end of the day Kevin looked out of the window and saw _him_ again and smiled. He stood up and followed her out of the door.

"Um…Excuse me?"

She turned around and smiled. "Yes?"

"Hi, My name is Kevin."

"Hello Kevin." She turned and walked to her car, arms full of paperwork.

"What is your name?"

"Oh, right," She smiled, "I am Kandra."

"Let me get that for you." Kevin motioned to her papers.

"Sure." She fumbled for her keys.

"You eat yet?"

"No, I haven't eaten," She said with a confused look.

"I mean…would you like to go to dinner?"

"Yes, lemme get this," she jiggled her keys in the lock and the door popped open knocking her to the floor, "right…"

Kevin laughed and quickly reached down to help her up. Kandra nearly got mad before she noticed how funny it must have looked and laughed with him.

After the moment was over they both looked down at their hands…still clasped together from when Kevin had pulled her up. They both blushed and slowly dropped their hands.

"Right…Dinner…"

_**How lucky can one guy be?**_**_  
_**_**I kissed her and she kissed me.**_**_  
_**_**Like a fella once said:**_**_  
_**_**"Ain't that a kick in the head?"**_**__**

_**The room was completely black,**_**_  
_**_**I hugged her and she hugged back.**_**_  
_**_**Like a sailor said quote:**_**_  
_**_**"Ain't that a hole in a boat?"**_**__**

_**My head keeps spinnin',**_**_  
_**_**I go to sleep and keep grinnin'**_**_  
_**_**If this is just the beginnin'**_**_  
_**_**My life is gonna be beautiful.**_**__**

_**I've sunshine enough to spread,**_**_  
_**_**It's just like the fella said.**_**_  
_**_**Tell me quick,**_**_  
_**_**ain't that a kick in the head?**_**__**

_**Like the fella once said:**_**_  
_**_**"Ain't that a kick in the head?"**_**__**

_**Like the sailor said quote:**_**_  
_**_**"Ain't that a hole in a boat?"**_**__**

_**My head keeps spinnin',**_**_  
_**_**I go to sleep and keep grinnin'**_**_  
_**_**If this is just the beginnin'**_**_  
_**_**My life is gonna be beautiful.**_**__**

_**She's telling me we'll be wed,**_**_  
_**_**She's picked out a king size bed,**_**_  
_**_**I couldn't feel any better or I'd be sick.**_**__**

_**Tell me quick,**_**_  
_**_**Oh, ain't that a kick...?**_**_  
_**_**Tell me quick,**_**_  
_**_**ain't that a kick in the head?**_

_**-Dean Martin**_

**A/N: Thank you cousin (Maisjetadoresiriusnoir) for helping me with this story. I really appreciate it and I love you!**

**A/N: **

**Due to past events…**

**The review function is to review the story…. not to review personal beliefs. Please leave a nice review or constructive criticism. **

**No Flames or Personal arguments. If you have a problem with Christianity don't bother reviewing. You shouldn't have bothered reading in the first place if you can't handle it.**

_**Thanks!**_

_****_


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